-So a lot of you have messaged me confused about whether Jacob has really imprinted and the answer is YES Jacob has imprinted on Ellie. He mentions to Bella in the series that you can be in love with more than one person and that he'd seen it with Sam Leah and Emily. My idea for this is that Jacob has always been strong willed, I don't think he would let his feelings for Bella go ,as Bella says, over some Wolfy claim. I think he would fight his imprint for as long as he possibly could because he believes he's in love with Bella. We'll get a glimpse into Jake's mind again but he definitely feels that pull for Ellie, however he knows he was in love with Bella and this story is the struggle he has letting Bella go and embracing his wolf and his imprint. Hope that clears things up! -

Chapter 7

Resolve

I want you to want me

Why don't we rely on chemistry

Why don't we collide the spaces that divide us

I want you to want me

The second sunny day of the year hit and both Bella and Edward were nowhere to be found. I suppose it only makes sense that Bella would ditch with him. She had been avoiding me since that day at the diner and honestly I don't blame her. I would avoid me too, although, I wondered what Jake and Bella had said after I had left. Had Bella scolded him? Had they laughed at me? Bella didn't seem like someone who would laugh at others misfortune, in all honesty I doubt they even talked about me at all.

I turned to look at Jessica who was zoned out, tapping her pen against her notebook. Next week was exams and then we'd be graduating. One more week of this nonsense and then I could focus on what really mattered. Bree. Edward had promised me he would tell me if anything else happened involving her, and I really hoped I could trust him. Though, if he was being honest, that meant nothing of importance had happened so far and that was unnerving. I had still been tracking the disappearances and murders in Seattle and they were not declining. It seemed to me that someone was making an army. An army of vampires, that sent a shiver of fear down my spine. Why the hell would someone be making an army of vampires in Seattle of all places.

The bell broke me out of my day dream and I scrambled to gather my things. I needed to talk to Edward. "Don't forget to finish your study packets and turn them in before the exam for an extra ten percent on your exam." An extra ten percent was the least of my worries right now.

"Have you seen Bella today?" I turned looking over my shoulder spotting Angela looking worried.

"No but I bet she went out with Edwards family." I shrugged, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. She chewed her lip worriedly.

"Yeah, but we were supposed to meet up after school and study for exams." She paused messing with her bag strap. "But she hasn't answered any of my texts." I gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'll talk to Charlie when I get home and make sure she's ok."

"Thanks. She's seemed a bit out of it, I'm worried about her."

"Don't worry too much Angela. Bella's a big girl. Something must've just came up."

The drive home was long and painful. So Bella wasn't just casually ditching, which meant something was up. Edward and his family being gone made sense, but if Bella was with Edward she would've canceled with Angela, which meant there was something wrong. I clenched my fists on my steering wheel pulling into my driveway. If Bella wasn't answering her phone, and her truck wasn't in her driveway then where on Earth could she be. I shut the door of my house, greeting Mochi as she jumped up onto my chest.

I dropped my bags onto the couch pushing my wallet into my pocket. I hated leaving Mochi here alone all of the time, so I attached her leash and headed out onto the trail. There was too much going on in my head, I needed to go and sit and sketch for a while. I needed a brain dump. The warmth of the sun was wonderful and I took advantage of not needing a jacket, following the trail. The streaks of sunlight through the trees shone on Mochi's golden fur as she sniffed around the trail. When I finally found a warm spot I dropped the blanket I had brought and attached Mochis's leash to a tree branch allowing her some space to explore.

The scratching of my pencil against the paper relieved some of the tension in my shoulders. I needed to be away from everything, I needed to not worry about my crazy life for one moment.

"Ellie." I nearly jumped out of my skin, my pencil flying out of my hand and disappearing into the bush next to me. I stared up at Edward, my heart drumming in my chest so hard, I could feel my pulse in my head.

"Don't. Do. That." I hissed, sitting up. Mochi noticed Edward and instantly started growling, her fur stood on edge and she backed up snarling at him. "Mochi, Mochi. Calm down."

"Sorry, and don't worry about it. Animals have never liked us." I could sense the sadness in his voice as he looked at her before turning to me. "I have some news."

"That's wonderful, but don't you think you could've waited until I was home rather than stalking me out into the woods."

"I wasn't- I'm simply holding up my end of the deal. Do you want the information or not?"

"Yes, yes sorry." I gestured to the blanket and he looked at me for a moment before sitting down. "Where's Bella?"

"Don't worry about that." Mochi slowly approached him, her fur still on edge as she sat in front of me, seeming as though she was guarding me from Edward. "Alice had a vision." He started. A vision, that was news. "She sees things, things that will happen and I recognized a face in her vision. I'm pretty sure it was your friend Bree. We're still trying to understand these visions, why she's seeing them and how they pertain to us, but your friend. She's definitely an immortal now. I wasn't sure our first time speaking if she was turned or simply killed, but she was there." I sat up, looking at him with my eyes wide.

"Was she hurt? Is she afraid? Are they keeping her captured?" This was awesome, it wasn't a chance anymore, Bree was definitely ok.

"I'm not sure." he grimaced, turning away. "Alice's visions are short and usually don't have much information, but I thought it could bring you some peace of mind. Bella told me what happened the other day. She's worried you dislike her now." That was embarrassing for sure, at least she didn't seem me crying in the rain.

"I don't dislike her now Edward. I don't want her to worry about that." I said, resting my hand on my knee. "Tell her that, she seems to have a lot on her plate, I don't want her worrying about me as well." He gave me a kind smile moving to stand up.

"Thank you, I'll let her know. We're working to figure out Alice's visions at the moment, but as i said, i thought knowing she was ok would make you feel at ease."

"I thought ok was a relative term." I teased and he rolled his eyes looking over at me. "But thank you. It really does help me feel better. It's nice to know she's still existing out there." I paused looking away. "Do you think there's a possibility I could find her?" I didn't hear a response, when I looked back to where he was, he was gone. I appreciated the visit, but why wouldn't he tell me where Bella was.

I sat back down to continue sketching but I couldn't seem to calm my racing mind enough to finish any coherent form of a picture. Mochi barked eagerly as we arrived back home when I noticed a Volkswagen in my driveway. That was suspicious. I approached slowly, though Mochi was tugging harshly at the leash until she finally busted from my grip and ran straight into someone leaning against the car.

Jacob.

He leant down gently scratching her head as she licked at his face. "Hey Sorry about her, she's not usually like that." I approached the two, jogging towards my driveway.

"Don't worry about it. I love dogs." He said softly, before standing up and smiling at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Here to yell at me some more?" He scratched the back of his neck avoiding eye contact.

"I came to apologize. And uh, offer you an explanation." I raised an eyebrow watching him expectantly. He seemed nervous, scratching at Mochi's fur as she leaned against him. "I heard you met Seth and Leah."

"Yeah they were nice." I stared at him, furrowing my brows, where was he going with this.

"I really don't even know how to tell you this." He said, giving an exasperated laugh. I walked closer to him, he looked truly conflicted and I felt bad for him. He looked so angry and afraid and sad. He stared at me for a moment, obviously conflicted. I gently rested my hand on his arm, attempting to offer some comfort and he jolted away. I pulled my hand back pressing it to my chest. "It was me."

I stared at him blankly. "What? What was you?" He looked frustrated grabbing at his hair and closing his eyes.

"It was me Ellie, on the trail outside of Bella's house. That was me." On the trail outside of Bella's house? What the hell was he talking about. He stepped closer, grabbing my shoulders and I felt chills through my back as we made eye contact. My heart skipped a beat and I staggered back from him. Familiar brown eyes flashed into my head. They held the same emotion, fear, confusion, and longing. I nearly tripped before he grabbed my arm and tugged me closer to him. The feel of his hand on the small of my back left me light headed.

"It...it was you. On the trail, the wolf. You're the wolf? That doesn't make any sense, y-you're a person and that-that was a wolf you are not a wolf but-" I was rambling but my brain couldn't comprehend what he was saying, but it also made perfect sense. It was almost as though somewhere inside me I had known. He took a deep breath taking my hand, I snatched it back instinctively.

"Please." He whispered, taking my hand in his again. Mochi whined from the ground head butting me.

"Show me." I felt breathless, staring at him. He watched me carefully before giving a quick nod. I ushered Mochi into the house, much to her disappointment before following Jacob onto the trail. Neither of us spoke as he held my hand, pulling me behind him until we were deep into the thicket.

"Just...just stand back there and don't move." I didn't move a muscle, holding my breath as I watched him. He tugged his jacket off before removing his shirt and I nearly choked, concealing it with a cough as I looked away. I could feel the fire in my cheeks as he finished undressing. "Are you ready?" I nodded turning back to him, keeping my eyes trained on his face so they wouldn't wander elsewhere. It was nearly instantaneous and if i hadn't been staring i would have sworn i had blinked and missed it. In front of me, stood the same wolf I had seen on the trail. He growled softly, approaching me and I staggered back once again before he dropped his head in front of me. I reached out slowly, pressing my hand against the fur in between his ears.

This was unbelievable. It didn't explain why he was an asshole to me, or why Bella was so pushy for me to meet him, or maybe it did. Maybe I had to see because I had seen him already. I was sure he would explain. I pulled my hand back and watched him carefully. "Ok, I see now, but i think you still owe me an explanation."

"Does it hurt?" I asked, as we descended the trail.

"No, it's annoying to go through so many clothes though." He laughed. I nodded thoughtfully before finally asking the question that had been clouding my mind.

"Why don't you like me?" He shut my front door behind us, looking over at me.

"You think I don't like you?"

"After the way you treated me Jacob, I'm kind of surprised you can stand in the same room as me." I said laughing awkwardly. He looked pained approaching me and gently taking my hand.

"Ellie, I like you a lot, more than you can possibly understand. It's a uh, it's a wolf thing."

"What's a wolf thing?" He furrowed his brows, hand squeezing mine gently.

"I…" he paused, taking a deep breath. "I imprinted on you."

"You imprinted on me? Can you explain a bit more?"

He sighed nodding his head. "Imprinting is uh it's an involuntary thing that the shifters in my tribe uh go through. It's not like love at first sight though, I'd say it's similar. It's...deeper than that. It's like you meet that person and they're suddenly the most important thing on Earth, they're the reason you're here. I feel like I can't stay away from you." He looked pained, clenching his eyes shut. "I want to though, I tried to. I tried to ignore it, I tried to push you away and it was the worst pain imaginable." I watched him, my eyes wide. Was he confessing his love to me?

"I don't understand."

"I want to be myself." He said, looking back down at me. "If I'm going to love someone, I want to love them because of who they are, not because some phenomenon says I have to. But the way I treated you… that wasn't fair to you and I'm sorry." My heart ached for him, I took his other hand in my own and looked up at him.

"I accept your apology. I won't say I understand but I do feel some kind of pull towards you." I admitted. "I was hurt more than I normally would be when you rejected me. If you say you want to love me...for me." I started, my cheeks burning. "Then maybe you should get to know me." He looked at me as though there was something else he needed to say before it hit me. Something Seth and Leah had avoided answering. "But Bella." He groaned, dropping my hands and walking further into the house.

"Yes. Bella." He clenched his fists, looking back at me. "I've loved Bella for a while now, or at least I thought I did?" he paced in front of me, Mochi following his path through the room. "But, the way I feel around you, it's ten times as strong, I feel like I can do anything right now, but my head is also swimming because I just- It's so confusing!" He yelled, slamming his fist into the wall. I jumped watching him pull his hand from the new hole in my living room. He seemed shocked before turning to me. "I'm uh- I'm so sorry."

I walked over to him slowly, taking his hand in mine once again. "Jacob, you obviously have some things you need to work through, and I get it. I do too, but this obviously involves me now. I feel the same intense feelings around you. I want to help." Jealousy had never been an issue of mine, though I did feel a twinge of hurt that he was holding onto those feelings for Bella so tightly. But I suppose it was a piece of himself he didn't want to lose, something he wanted to control. "So how about we get to know each other? Lets just...hang out a bit? Maybe go see a movie or something?" He watched me, shocked.

"You're taking this surprisingly well."

"I'm dealing with things a lot weirder than this so…"

"Maybe you could tell me sometime, when we hang out." He gave me a small smile, walking to my front door. He leaned against the frame biting his lip. "I really gotta get going, everyone's going to wanna know how it went."

"How did it go?" I asked, giving him a playful smile.

"You tell me."

"I think…" I walked closer, pressing my hand to his chest. "It went well." He released a shaky breath before opening my front door.

"I'll see you later Ellie."

"Bye Jacob." I watched his car disappear from sight, excited for our next time meeting.